RECAP: RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, Episode 12 (Makeovers)
First, apologies again for no blog last week. I was in Washington, D.C. with several of our panelists putting on a Great Pop Culture Debate Live panel at AwesomeCon, the big pop-culture shindig in D.C. If you happened to be at the panel, thanks for showing up! If not, we hope to see you at one of our upcoming convention appearances. BTW: Bring back DragCon, you cowards! While in D.C., we did take in last week’s roast at Number 9, at a viewing party hosted by Season 2/”All Stars 2” diva Tatianna. We desperately need Tatianna back on our screens. Let’s just say that. Let’s also say that the roast of Alicia – excuse me, Alyssa Edwards – was among the best roasts we have had in a while, but it was undoubtedly Kenya Pleaser’s time to go. Best of luck to her.
Now, on to the makeover. I think at this point we can all agree on the following universal truths regarding this challenge:
Makeovers exist as a way for the show to give us more human-interest stories, and humanize the remaining queens. This has been true for seasons now, and this episode did not disappoint. Bringing in members of the International Gay Rodeo Association was brilliant, and these six representatives provided us amazing television. There were several moving backstories, there was a wonderful feeling of community, and there was some genuinely hilarious playful shade. Every one of those makeover subjects nailed this episode, and made me ask: World of Wonder, where is the reality show set in the International Gay Rodeo scene? I would watch the hell out of that.
The makeover challenge is almost always at this stage in the competition because it acts as a firewall for Production to remove a contestant they don’t want getting to the top, and to boost the track record of a queen that is maybe not faring as well as they would like. I think that’s pretty clearly what we got here.
That’s because the judging of this challenge is by far the most subjective judging of any challenge, and I would argue it has gotten even more nonsensical as the series has gone along. That’s especially true for Michelle Visage, who has somehow become the show’s resident tastemaker when it comes to “drag family resemblance.” And it is all absolute bullshit. Michelle has been inconsistent in her her judging from series to series, but in this makeover, she was inconsistent queen to queen. It’s exhausting and it’s unfair and we need to talk about it.
Read on for my take on the RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 makeover challenge, “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Drag Queens.” SPOILERS AHEAD!
RELATED CONTENT
Best “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Lipsync (2020-2025)
Best “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Snatch Game Performance
Best “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Runway Look (S7-S12)
First we had a mini challenge in which the queens had to get in quick drag and race inflatable hobby horses while jiggling their massive fake breasteses as much as possible. I loved every second. Unlikely fan favorite Discord Addams won the race by an areola, and was given the responsibility of assigning the makeover subjects to each of the queens. There may have been some strategy involved here, particularly when it came to assigning frontrunner Jane Don’t with Terry, the oldest of the rodeo men. But I don’t think any of that was ultimately relevant to the results.
I’ll quickly go through each queen’s approach to their makeovers, while pointing out that I remember when the queens on this show had to make the makeover outfits in the work room, instead of bringing pre-made concepts for them and their partners, whoever they may be.I think that allows the show to spend more time focusing on the interactions between queen and makeover partner, but I also think it seriously nerfs the difficulty rating of this challenge. Just my opinion.
Darlene Mitchell: Darlene put her absolutely adorable parter Chris into – predictably – trashy middle-aged Middle American drag, creating Reno-bound slot sister Bonnie Mitchell. This isn’t a particularly inventive makeover. We’ve seen the concept a few times, notably the Katya/Mrs. Kasha Davis conjoined twins in Season 7, but it was firmly in Darlene’s wheelhouse and Bonnie executed it perfectly. I will not be at all surprised to see Bonnie Mitchell on a future season of Drag Race.
Discord Addams: Discord decided to go with a “Clueless”-inspired for her makeover, Colton, creating a goth mean girl (Discord) and a preppy mean girl (Harmony), making the point that mean girls are mean girls no matter what the trappings. The outfits were similar Cher Horowitz-inspired fashions, one in black and white, one in pink and white, with similar but not identical hairpieces. The mugs were basically exactly the same. In “Untucked” I literally kept confusing Harmony for Discord, not an exaggeration.
Jane Don’t: Jane put a “Dynasty”-esque spin on her makeover partner, the lovely Terry who became Maybe Don’t (love), with luxurious satin-finished gowns, one in deep blue, one in deep red. Each member of the panel had rich red hair swept to alternating sides. The actual gowns were slightly different in construction, but without question related looks.
Juicy Love Dion: Juicy went for a kind of Carmen Miranda fantasy for her makeover partner, Greg, who as transferred into Loosey Love Dion. Juicy’s outfit was bright yellow, Loosey’s album was deep blue, and there were different treatments to the skirts. The makeover was basically identical, which I actually thought was an issue. Juicy has a dewy, youthful, blushing mug that works for her young age. Loosey is most certainly a lady of a certain age, and that makeup looked really off on her face. It just did not work at all.
Myki Meeks: Myki got lucky by getting a former drag queen in the form of Michael, who was transformed into Morgan Meeks. I’m honestly not sure how I would describe this makeover. It also felt somewhat “Dynasty” inspired, but I guess it would be throwback glamour. Maybe awards show presenter in 1991? The outfits were basically mirror images of one another, but like Juicy, I thought Myki misfired by not trying to adapt her make-up style to Michael’s unique features. Again: just my opinion.
Nini Coco: Nini was assigned Jason, a former veteran with a truly heatbreaking backstory, who became Patsy Coco. Nini went out of the box by dressing herself as a monarch butterfly, and Jason as a caterpillar. I appreciated the bold swing, and I thought the execution on the outfits was strong. I LOVED the make-up applications on both. The judges were significantly less inspired.
In the end, Myki was given the win, with Darlene and Juicy in the top. I don’t get it. Listen, I like all these queens, that’s not a judgement call against any of them. I thought both Myki and Juicy let their makeover partners down when it came to make-up – when you have more mature faces, you need to approach them differently than an early 20something face. I personally would have given the win to Darlene, who didn’t do anything revolutionary, but executed her concept flawlessly, and her partner looked, felt, and performed beautifully.
That left a Bottom 3 of Jane Don’t, Nini Coco, and Discord Addams, all of whom were told by Michelle Visage that they did not give her “family resemblance.” That is a lie. I’m sorry, it’s simply not true – we have eyes.
Let’s discuss Jane don’t. Jane – whose High-or-better track record came to an end here – did basically EXACTLY what Juicy did for her makeover, and yet was told HERS didn’t have family resemblance. The same basic outfit concept, flipped in different but complementary colors, with different cuts on the skirt. Literally the exact. Same. Makeover. One of them was successful to Michelle, one was not. It makes absolutely no logical sense.
Discord went a little more out of the box with outfits that weren’t exactly the same, but thematically clearly connected, and make-up that was completely identical. That too somehow was not acceptable, even though I think Discord was right behind Darlene in terms of a partner who looked like an actual working drag queen and not just a man wearing a dress.
Finally, Nini. Some of the most memorable makeovers in “Drag Race” history have been high concept, as this one was. I think immediately to Crystal Methyd’s Season 12 Bert and Ernie look – one of the most beloved makeovers of all time. This is very much in that vein. Family resemblance? Nini gave us the same SPECIES at different points in its life cycle. It only requires a little bit of imagination and a rudimentary understanding of science – and a sense of humor – to understand where Nini was going here. The fact that Michelle could not or more likely would not see that is frustrating but, sadly, predictable.
If we are to believe that Michelle Visage is the arbiter of “family resemblance” drag makeovers, and if we are to take lessons from her judging of this episode, I think the message to future contestants is clear: just pack the exact same outfit x2. Pack the exact same hair. Pack the exact same accessors. Make them like like an exact double of you*. If you attempt to do anything even remotely creative, you’re going to fail. Don’t be creative. Just do the most obvious, boring version of a makeover you can think of. And even then, if Production doesn’t want you to continue, you’re still going to get eliminated.
*Unless you are Cheryl Hole in “Drag Race UK” Series 1, who made her makeover partner into a literal identical doppelganger, and was somehow sent home for that. It’s maddening.
The Bottom 2 was Nini and Dicord, lip syncing to “We Can’t Be Friends” by Ariana Grande. Great song! Lousy lipsync. It doesn’t build to anything. I don’t know who is picking these lipsync songs lately, but please attempt to understand the concept of songs that have levels and variation so that the performers have something, anything to work with in terms of an emotional arc. I thought Discord sometimes looked like she didn’t know the words, and I thought her emoting often seemed out of place with the lyrics of the song. Nini did beautifully, but the performance was wasted on this number. Her face is wonderfully expressive and she moves like a dream.
Discord went home, which feels correct for this point in the competition, but was not based on any real failing on her part. Discord came into this season with a lot of suspicion, as the rumor mill said she was DQ’d midway due to controversial social media posts made pre-show. That was obviously not true, and she became an unexpected fan favorite, an endearing underdog. Her exit line, “See you ‘All Stars,’” seems prescient. She’s exactly the kind of queen people would love to see back, including myself.
Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the passing of Terry, Jane Don’ts makeover partner who died between this filming and airing. Terry seemed like a wonderful man and a beautiful soul, and our entire viewing party gasped at the “In Memory” at the end of this episode. I hope this episode is a blessing to his family and friends.
A QUICK NOTE ON “Drag Race UK Vs, the World” S3: This week was also the conclusion of “UKvTW3,” which was an unexpectedly lovely season. A cast of largely under-the-radar queens, heavy on international franchises, with more than 50% coming from Asian backgrounds. I enjoyed the season quite a lot, and thought having queens with lower expectations allowed them to come into their own – Sminty Drop from “UK4,” The Only Naomy from “Drag Race Germany,” and Serena Morena from “Mexico” S1 all had moments of brilliance, and long-suffering “Drag Race” contestant Mariah Balenciaga (US S3, “All Stars 5”) was given a glowing edit and a Final 4 spot despite rarely being the best in the challenges or especially on the runways.
The story of the season was, of course, Kate Butch from “UK5” and Gawdland from “Thailand3,” the frontrunners pretty much the whole way – and rightfully our Final 2. I personally thought Kate had the better season, as she barely faltered the whole way – strong in challenges, massively improved on the runway, and robbed more than once of high placements or wins. Gawdland was clearly Ru’s favorite, as well as a good chunk of the audience. I’m glad to see “Thailand” get its flowers, I though Gawdland was dazzling on runways and has real star power. I do not think she won some of those challenges – her Snatch Game version of Cardi B was just Gawdland screaming “wet” and “OKCurrr” – and I personally found her personality (and volume) to be grating.
Still, it was hard to ignore that Gawdland won that final lipsync to “What Do I Have to Do” by Kylie Minogue, and she was crowned the winner. I think it’s good for the franchise to have a non-white, non-UK winner. I think it dispels the notion that it’s fixed, and that was needed for both future contestants and viewers. But I honestly think that if Marina Summers had won UKvTW2, Kate would have won here. Kate’s run this season was stronger than either previous winner of this franchise, and I think it was objectively stronger than Gawdland’s for the season as a whole. You can come for me on that – I think it comes down a lot to your generation, tbh – but when we’re talking memorable moments from this season, most of Gawdland’s come down to her being a shrieking chaos goblin, while Kate was giving us a master class in drag week after week. Just my opinion.
What do you think of Season 18 so far? Which queens are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments.
